Kindergarten curricula for the school year
Kindergarten students have their core subjects
taught by their classroom teachers. Weekly classroom music, physical
education, Spanish, and Suzuki piano lessons are taught by auxiliary
teachers.
READING
For the last seven years, our students have taken the Stanford Achievement
Test (SAT4). The kindergarten students have averaged the 97th percentile
in the nation in Reading, which means 1 percent of the U.S. students
taking this test scored higher than our average test score. The SAT4
Group Report also gives a Median Grade Equivalent. Our students averaged
2.2 MGE. This means that students nationally, who scored the same as
our average raw score, were in the second grade, in the second month
of the school year. In other words, by the eighth month in our kindergarten,
the average reading score was 1 year and 4 months above national grade
level.
In addition to the students reading books by
sounding out consonant-vowel-consonant words like cat, they learn the
two-vowel rule. This rule is when there are two vowels in a word, the
first vowel says its name and the second vowel is silent (for example
"cake"). Students apply this rule to both their reading and
writing. As their reading progresses, the children are taught to read
by sight those words that are exceptions to the phonics rules and patterns.
As the students progress through their phonics
readers, they are systematically taught the 2-letter combinations that
are sounded out by blending the two sounds together. This is introduced
in the initial position of the word, as "bl" in block and
blade. They progress through 14 other blended sounds; each lesson followed
by stories and activity sheets. They're also taught the 2-letter combinations
that make only one sound, for example "ph" makes the same
sound as "f", as in phone. Their work papers include "cut
and paste", riddle, and joke pages, so it is fun for the children
to do their schoolwork. Through review and reading practice, each successive
skill is mastered and becomes as "automatic as breathing".
These are the foundation-skills that, when mastered, will enable a child
to become a top student, not just in the subject of reading but in any
subject that requires reading or writing.
The students read from 7 sets of phonics readers.
Each set of 10 reading books has its own workbook, providing drill and
practice in writing the words they are reading. In addition, the children
have a phonics workbook that provides additional practice. Four days
a week each student takes home the book that he/she read to their teacher,
and reads it to their parent, who is required to sign it. El Rancho
parents are our reading partners.
Spelling tests begin around January. The teacher
slowly dictates the words and the children write them without help.
Several weeks later, the teacher begins dictating a short sentence and
the children write it. Then they draw a picture about the sentence.
The children sometimes draw a picture of something else, usually with
an explanation like, "I like cats", or "I hurt my finger".
All illustrations are happily received by their teachers.
MATH
Students learn to count, recognize, and write numbers 1-100. This includes
the before and after concept, as well as skip counting by 2's, 5's,
and 10's. Students "play" with manipulatives when introduced
to addition and subtraction concepts and gradually learn to write and
solve a number sentence. Addition and subtraction facts (1-12) are a
breeze by the end of kindergarten!
Rulers, moveable clock faces, dominos, and real
coins are some of the hands-on tools that make math fun! The children
love learning about shapes, patterns, fractions, graphing, calendar,
money, time and measurement. As the year progresses, the children begin
to solve story problems and are challenged with two-digit addition and
subtraction.
SOCIAL STUDIES
The students learn about each of the major holidays. They hear stories
and make art and craft projects associated with them. Guests (often
the parents or grandparents of students) speak to the children about
their heritage and culture, and involve the children in song and taste-testing
ethnic foods.
The children learn about the earth. They work
with a globe, and learn about the sun, planets, moon and space. They
begin learning map skills, and locate states and cities on a map.
SCIENCE
Science lessons are a time for the children to explore the world around
them. The children love to experiment with magnets, sinking and floating
objects, the five senses. Other science topics covered in kindergarten
include activities that help the children learn about rocks, habitats,
planets, the human body, and life cycles.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Students look forward each week to P.E., which is taught by an auxiliary
teacher. They develop balance, coordination, ball-handling skills, simple
sports skills, teamwork, cooperation, and good sportsmanship. In first
grade, students may be signed up for basketball practice and play, which
is an after-school activity.
ART
The students do many art projects associated with the holidays and seasons.
They also have instruction in drawing simple objects and animals. They
explore art through colored pens, tempera and watercolor paint, 2- and
3- dimensional projects, and other media. They are read stories highlighting
the lives and works of Van Gogh, Monet, Mary Cassett, Kandinsky, and
others as time permits, and create works of their own in these and other
styles of painting.
PIANO LESSONS
Each week a certified Suzuki Method piano teacher gives small group
lessons to the students. Each child has an electronic keyboard. The
children learn to repeat a note, a rhythm, and a pattern, and to read
simple music notation. The eye-hand coordination and finger dexterity
that is developed by these lessons has a direct benefit to the students'
reading and writing skills.
Piano lessons at El Rancho School are a joyful
time for the children. In addition to bringing joy into children's lives,
studies have noted a causal relationship between piano lessons and later
school achievement. These studies have demonstrated that students who
take piano lessons at a young age later experience enhanced math test
scores, and to a lesser degree, science scores. These scores do not
show a tendency to diminish over time. Additionally, in the Suzuki Method
of instruction, students learn to play by hearing and duplicating tones,
rhythms, and patterns. This auditory memory training is thought to enhance
auditory memory, not just in relation to music, but in other areas as
well.
MUSIC LESSONS
The Music Director teaches weekly classroom music. Lessons include tone
matching to enhance their singing, using percussion instruments, music
theory and singing. Students learn to recognize basic music symbols
such as quarter, half and whole notes, and the staff and treble clef.
By the end of the school year, student will be able to read simple rhythm
and identify notes from the treble staff.
The children are taught to sing in a group, and
to follow the director as he guides them in common ensemble techniques.
They learn a wide variety of songs, including patriotic songs, and seasonal
songs associated with Halloween, Easter, and Christmas. They perform
their songs at a nearby senior citizen facility and to their families
at spring and Christmas concerts They may also be signed up, at additional
cost, for a choral class that is taught after school. Beginning in kindergarten
or first grade, parents may sign their child up for weekly private piano
or other lessons. The children always remember when the Music Director
comes to their room, because their lessons are so fun!
SPANISH LESSONS
The students develop vocabulary and learn conversational phrases in
twice weekly Spanish lessons. Over 150 puppets are integrated into instruction,
in order to capture the interest and enthusiasm of the children. The
children enjoy learning songs in Spanish as well as English.
CHARACTER EDUCATION
The school-wide RAK (Random Acts of Kindness) Program is implemented
in Kindergarten. When students are observed, "committing a random
act of kindness", their teachers or parents fill out a RAK coupon,
which is sent to the Vice Principal. The Vice-Principal visits the rooms
to read, celebrate and reward (from the treasure box) those children
whose coupons have been given to her. Additionally, short lessons about
virtuous behaviors are discussed in class, and children are gently guided
to develop attitudes and habits of honesty, perseverance, tolerance,
kindness, responsibility, and gratitude. El Rancho School serves as
a partner to the parents in helping children develop ethical and moral
attitudes, giving the students a compass to guide their choices and
behaviors.
San Juan School District, Student Outcomes in Kindergarten
Reading:
look at books
read own name and labels
recall story events
begin to relate sounds to letters
match and sort letters
follow left/right progression
interpret story situations and predict story outcomes
Mathematics
explore freely with manipulative materials
sort and classify with manipulative materials
recognize, create and extend patterns
estimate and predict comparative amounts
practice counting backwards by ones and forward by twos, fives, and tens
discover, through manipulatives, the different combinations which make up the numbers 0 - 5
manipulate models of geometric solids to discover their properties and spatial relationships
Diocese of Sacramento Catholic Schools Department, Academic Content Standards for Kindergarten
The following list represents Diocesan guidelines for grade-level standards and is based on the State of California Content Standards.
Decoding and Word Recognition
Match all consonant and short-vowel sounds to appropriate letters
Read simple one-syllable, high-frequency sight words. (e.g. God, love, Mom, Dad)
Understand that as letters of words change, so do the sounds
Mathematics
By the end of kindergarten, students understand the consistency of small numbers, quantities and simple shapes in their everyday environment. They count, compare, describe, and sort objects and develop a sense about properties and patterns.
